When it comes to property maintenance, landlords need to focus on providing a habitable rental space. One of the best strategies for attracting tenants and for making them happy is to keep a well-maintained rental property.
Under state laws, property owners are in charge of performing maintenance tasks and keeping a healthy and safe environment for renters. Landlords need to know what tasks they’re responsible for completing.
The upside of being meticulous in carrying out your property maintenance duties is you won’t need to arrange for repairs often. This means saving a lot of your rental income. You also benefit from less wear and tear, which leads to providing additional value and keeping the money that would have been used for repair payments.
With more renters occupying your rental unit, being consistent with maintaining your rental property can slow down wear and tear and limit your property expenses.
What Are the Property Maintenance Duties of a Landlord?
Landlords are expected to fulfill the following tasks:
1. Distribute Trash Bins Around the Rental Property
When you issue receptacles for garbage, you can also avoid the common complaint of pest infestation. Residents will feel comfortable when they’re staying in a healthy space. Issuing these trash containers also inspires proper garbage disposal.
Factors to consider when providing garbage containers:
- The number of tenants staying in the unit
- The frequency of the garbage collection in your area
Once you have answers to these critical factors then you can figure out the right number and sizes of trash bins to place around your rental property.
2. Provide a Steady Water Supply
Landlords must provide sufficient water supply to make it convenient for tenants to live on their property. It can be challenging to do day-to-day tasks without a steady water supply; it’s necessary for cooking, cleaning, taking a shower, and using the bathroom.
Unsafe drinking water can also result in health issues for the renters. Landlords must make sure that there’s enough water so they won’t risk a tenant turnover.
3. Comply With Building Codes
Landlords must maintain their rental spaces according to the building codes for security. Since the tenant’s safety is in your hands, you must see to it that you have a solid structure.
Your home systems, from plumbing and electrical, to heating, cooling, and ventilation must be functional to a high degree.
Setting up smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors is also a major requirement so that if a fire happens, the residents are alerted and can exit quickly.
Another vital safety precaution is preventing your rental unit from being over-occupied. In a bid to lower the rental fee, some renters can end up welcoming more tenants without seeking approval from you.
Regularly ensure that the number of residents in your rental unit is the same as stated in the lease agreement.
4. Maintain the Common Areas
Schedule periodic cleanup of your common areas since renters frequently gather and use these spaces. Review if ample lighting is provided.
Inspect the stairs and floors to limit accidents. If there are repairs needed, then coordinate with vendors right away to keep the renters safe.
5. Coordinate Property Repairs
Since a landlord’s goal is to provide a habitable rental to land long-term renters, you should be responsive in handling property maintenance requests. Better yet, you must hold consistent property inspections so you can recognize any property issues that need your prompt attention.
Preventive home maintenance is a great strategy for continuing to deliver value for the residents and keeping a profitable rental home.
Cultivate a reliable network of vendors that you can quickly reach out to, especially in cases of property emergencies. This grants you peace of mind when urgent situations occur.
6. Assess Home Systems
Even if your rental property is visually pleasing, renters will still move out if home systems are barely functional.
If your pipes keep leaking or there are power outages and issues with the water supply, you can expect tenant turnovers to happen.
Make it a point to regularly conduct inspections of the critical home systems to keep the renters comfortable and happy.
If you’re in charge of paying for utility dues then do your best to avoid any service interruptions and pay before or on the due date. If this is the responsibility of the renters then make sure that they pay their bills on time to prevent any problems.
What Are the Legal Maintenance Duties of Tenants?
Some tenants are unaware of maintenance tasks they must conduct. The following are maintenance activities they’re expected to fulfill:
1. Keeping a Sanitary Rental Unit
No matter how many garbage containers landlords provide, it’s the renters’ duty to discard the trash properly.
Otherwise, the rental property may suffer from a pest infestation, which is an additional problem to resolve.
2. Following the Building and Housing Codes
Tenants must adhere to building policies for their safety. For instance, they must refrain from adding more occupants to the rental unit without informing the landlord.
They should also perform their maintenance tasks routinely to delay wear and tear.
3. Avoiding Disturbing Potential Lead Paint
Properties constructed prior to 1978 can be subject to potential lead-based paint issues. To prevent this health hazard, landlords must disclose this to renters.
Since lead paint can result in health problems, renters must not resort to any activities that can lead to a disturbance of the paint, such as drilling holes and conducting painting sessions.
They should inform the landlord first before planning any project or decorating the rental unit.
Bottom Line
Maintaining the rental space is the responsibility of both the landlord and tenant. They must perform maintenance tasks regularly for safety, to diminish wear and tear, and lower repair costs. Both parties must also remain consistent in carrying out their maintenance duties.
Are you looking for a trusted partner to maintain your rental property? If yes, contact American Dream and Realty Management today! We’re a full-service property management company in Baltimore County with the experience to fulfill all your property maintenance needs!